Vegas 4 Editing Workshop

I wouldn't have bought this book if I hadn't been to a few of the author's seminars and seen him as an exceptional teacher. He gave as much in those seminars as it was possible for anybody to do in a seminar format, and it was all based on working experience.Even after using Vegas for more than a year, I found a lot to learn in this book. The author is very thorough, and he gives a thorough knowledge and real understanding of each area. This saves a lot of time in the end for both the novice and the professional.As has been noted by many, people will rate a video or film with "bad picture quality but good sound" far higher than one with "great picture but bad audio". The people in a movie theatre are called an "audience" for a reason, and Douglas covers the sound aspects of video post production really well from a long background also in professional audio (in 64 pages out of 404). The author's superior teaching skills combined with his long term experience as both a video and audio producer make this book a must-have for anybody using Vegas regardless of skill level.I would even recommend this book to those who use other NLEs, as many of the explanations and tips in this book apply also to them and aren't available in easily understandable form anywhere else.Each area in the book is illustrated with many photographs and sample files, so you can really understand what is going on.Importantly, the author also offers a good editing workflow to get the best quality from your source materials with minimal effort.I consider this to be a must-have resource for anybody using Vegas. Even the seasoned user can learn a lot, and any reader new to video editing gets a solid base for working with this very powerful and very "addictive" software.

Spotted Eagle has probably trained more Vegas editors than anyone, and this book brings his in-depth experience to anyone who wants to learn Vegas. Vegas is NOT a product that conforms to the "I want to be an Avid, too..." interface style and conventions, instead offering new paradigms for timeline-based editing, so even experienced editors may need some help getting acquainted and developing an effective workflow.This book starts off with the basics of setting up a pc for non-linear editing of DV content, but by the time you hit Chapter 4 Spotted Eagle is taking you through the many capabilities of Vegas, a stunningly effective editing environment for the pc. Another reviewer has complained of the attention paid to audio in the book; Vegas has multi-track audio capabilities rivaling ProTools, unique for an NLE in its price range, and well justifies the depth of explanation the author gives audio.If you're looking for a book on using Vegas, this is the one!

I first came across Vegas because of the frustration I had with other (we won't mention names) NLE's. After getting to know Vegas 3 a little, I knew I needed more than the manual. In my search for enlightenment, I found Douglas Spotted Eagle. Everywhere I could find a tutorial, comment, review, whatever, Poof! There he was like a genie out of the lamp offering his help (and sometimes on a personal basis with strangers). On top of that, he takes the time to host (in my opinion) the best Vegas forum on the web. Even when he's out of the country. Of course when Vegas 4 +DVD came out I hopped on it.Anyway, it was inevitable that he should write this book. This book does what it promises and more. Once you use Vegas, you never want to use anything else. It's quick, deep, and good for short and long form projects. The book covers everything you need to get started and then some. I criticize the critic who doesn't see the value of great audio in editing video. Great audio can make a bad video good and a good video great. Bad audio can kill a awesome video with one fell swoop. Vegas itself started out as an audio program and is still capable of multi-tracking. It has DirectX plugin capabilities and some of the best built in plugins you can get. By the time you finish the book, you have a complete grasp of not only how the program works, but concepts and ideas of why things should be the way they should be. Like color correction using vector scopes, histograms and more. How to use shortcut keys to help move you along faster. The list is almost endless, but after you've finished reading it, you still go back and use it as a reference. If you're knew to NLEs or new to Vegas, this book is the must have, keep it within hands reach, absolutely necessary book to have. Period.

Spot hits the mark with this book! From start to finish this book is a MUST HAVE/MUST READ if you use Sony's Vegas Video. He starts with simply crawling with Vegas and moves to a full on sprint as the book progresses. As far as the previous post regarding this book ignores the more novice editors or assumes that the reader has previous NLE experience??? How can this even be said? Spot spends the first three chapters on setting up Vegas properly before even getting started using the e program! How much more basic than this can you get? As far as the sound aspects of the book go, have you ever `listened' to a Hollywood film? The sound in a video can be as important (and sometimes more important) than the video signal. Take the sound out of an Alfred Hitchcock film and you'd have a film that was quite boring! Sound is ESSENTIAL to a video. The author UNDERSTANDS this fact and imparts his pearls of sound wisdom in the book. By the way, he's a Grammy Award winner so he KNOWS SOUND!Spot, the undisputed guru of Vegas (this guy as I understand it, works and or has worked directly with the programmers at what was Sonic Foundry - now Sony Vegas). With this kind of access to the core programming, Spot almost literally has his fingers on the pulse of Vegas. He knows his stuff when it comes to Vegas (and other things) and this book downright proves it.I'm SO GLAD that I purchased this book (I waited for what seemed like forever for it); it has definitely helped me move up the editing ladder. This book is a bonified bargain at twice the $34.97 price when you consider that you get a CD with a ton of examples to help you learn Vegas more quickly! This book WILL help you squeeze more creativity from your brain and improve your overall workflow so you will be editing projects more quickly.I knew that Vegas had a deeper set of editing tools; but until I bought this book I never knew that it was as deep as it is.TRW

A very well written text that covers all the basics of Vegas4. The text covers the basics of hardware requirements and recommendations to get the new user off to a good start.It's an easy read, written by someone devoted to teaching Vegas4 as well as using Vegas4. If you are using Vegas4, you most likely already know what insight Douglas Spotted Eagle brings to the table. Now you can have that knowledge and insight right at your fingertips.Simply copy the files from the enclosed CD to your hard drive and begin the journey of developing a strong foundation of Vegas4 essentials.This text is a must have. Just as the title suggests. It's a workshop. Perfect for a beginner that might be on a slower pace and lots of instruction for the more advanced user. The extended coverage of audio and 5.1 sound is major benefit as it is often a stumbling block for many, be they beginner or seasoned pro.You can't go wrong with this one.